How game sparks healthy activities
Charlotte Goddard
Wednesday, January 2, 2019
Project improves health and wellbeing by getting young people and adults moving.
PROJECT
Beat the Street
FUNDING
£3.3m from Sport England plus fees paid by commissioning bodies such as councils and health trusts
BACKGROUND
GP William Bird, chief executive and founder of social enterprise Intelligent Health, wanted to help communities become more active. He created the Beat the Street game which turns a town or wider area into a giant playground. Launched in Reading in 2014, it has since been rolled out to 72 towns and cities across the UK and Europe.
ACTION
Beat the Street is a 12-month programme in three phases. The first three months are spent working with stakeholders and communities to generate excitement about the game. "A local co-ordinator goes into schools and community groups, to get them engaged," says Niall Norbury, communications officer at Intelligent Health.
The main Beat the Street experience lasts for up to two months. Participants pick up a Beat the Street card or fob with radio frequency ID technology, which are tapped against sensors or "beat boxes" to collect points. Schools compete against each other with the winners receiving prizes. Other groups can also form teams.
"Children receive fobs which are pre-registered to the school so they can start playing straight away," says Norbury. "They also receive a card for an adult, who has to register online. Cards are also available through local leisure centres, libraries and other outlets."
After the game has ended, Beat the Street works with local agencies to build on the momentum gained, aiming to help participants embed physical activity into their lives by pointing them to events and activities in their area.
Recent funding from Sport England will fund the roll-out of a further 59 games across south west England and the East Midlands. Sport England will fund half the cost of each game with the rest met by commissioning bodies.
OUTCOME
In East Sussex, data gathered by Beat the Street found the proportion of children reporting frequent physical activity - 60 minutes or more of at least moderate physical exertion on five to seven days - increased from 42 per cent before the project to 53 per cent afterwards. The proportion of children reporting the lowest levels of activity decreased from 22 per cent before Beat the Street to just five per cent afterwards.
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